jarvis

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

This is a common STS-51L souvenir version from A-B Emblem. The main identifiers are the sewn-on tab and gray line under the yellow path of the orbiter. A newer version from A-B Emblem lacks the gray line. Unlike the crew version, the souvenir version is executed on gray twill.

I purchased an STS-51L version that was missing a star adjacent to the head of the comet. Easily a production flaw, however, further investigation reveals that at least a batch of these patches were released in this manner (I have found evidence of at least 3), so I found it worthy of note on this site.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

The crew version of the STS-51L patch is readily identifiable by the white backing on to which it was sewn. Some modern A-B emblem patches can be found with white backing as well, but they have different front stitching. The crew version also appears to have a waffle texture on the backing as well. While many were carried on the flight and many were destroyed, a large number were recovered and interred by NASA with the rest of the Challenger remains. A few appear at auction from various astronaut estates and have premium prices.

It has recently been discovered that some of the crew-version patches (gray body, white tab) made it in to the KSC gift store packaging.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

This is the common STS-51L souvenir version from A-B Emblem. The main identifiers are the sewn-on tab and gray line under the yellow path of the orbiter. A newer version from A-B Emblem lacks the gray line. Unlike the crew version, the souvenir version is executed on gray twill.

This mission's purpose was to deploy a Syncom/Leasat satellite into a geosynchronous orbit and retrieve and return the Long Duration Exposure Facility, whose orbit was decaying slowly after doing its mission. The crew would've consisted of 5 NASA astronauts and 2 Payload Specialists: Commander Dan Brandenstein, Pilot John Creighton, Mission Specialists Steve Nagel, John Fabian, and Shannon Lucid, and Payload Specialists Greg Jarvis and Charlie Walker. Scheduled for launch in either March or April of 1985, the orbiter that would've flown STS-51D was Discovery. There was some bad news, which was not about IUS problems this time: the STS-51E mission was cancelled and the crews changed missions; Brandenstein's crew moved to 51G and Bobko 's crew moved to the newly remanifested STS-51D flight. Charlie Walker chose to stay on this mission, because of the experiments he had to perform. So, an original member of STS-51E, Patrick Baudry, moved to STS-51G and Charlie Walker retained his spot as Payload Specialist 1.

This is Randy Hunt's replica version of the patch. The rounded tab corners and distinct color banding on the back are easy tells. One piece construction.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities.

This patch has distinct barring to the yellow shuttle trail. Cut edge.

After being honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1973, with the rank of Captain, he joined the Hughes Aircraft Company's Space and Communications group, where he worked as a Communications Subsystem Engineer on the MARISAT Program.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

This patch almost appears as a hybrid of the original A-B Emblem version and the Swissartex patch. It has a sew-on tab like A-B Emblem, however the Challenger's yellow trail resembles Swissartex's version. It lacks the gray underline below the yellow swoop that would make it an older A-B Emblem patch as well.

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson

For a short period the A-B Emblem STS-51L patch was made in a single piece and the comet is in gray thread. Otherwise identical to the tabbed version.

This mission's purpose was to deploy a Syncom/Leasat satellite into a geosynchronous orbit and retrieve and return the Long Duration Exposure Facility, whose orbit was decaying slowly after doing its mission. The crew would've consisted of 5 NASA astronauts and 2 Payload Specialists: Commander Dan Brandenstein, Pilot John Creighton, Mission Specialists Steve Nagel, John Fabian, and Shannon Lucid, and Payload Specialists Greg Jarvis and Charlie Walker. Scheduled for launch in either March or April of 1985, the orbiter that would've flown STS-51D was Discovery. There was some bad news, which was not about IUS problems this time: the STS-51E mission was cancelled and the crews changed missions; Brandenstein's crew moved to 51G and Bobko 's crew moved to the newly remanifested STS-51D flight. Charlie Walker chose to stay on this mission, because of the experiments he had to perform. So, an original member of STS-51E, Patrick Baudry, moved to STS-51G and Charlie Walker retained his spot as Payload Specialist 1.
3" A-B Emblem version of the highly-sought patch.

This mission's purpose was to deploy a Syncom/Leasat satellite into a geosynchronous orbit and retrieve and return the Long Duration Exposure Facility, whose orbit was decaying slowly after doing its mission. The crew would've consisted of 5 NASA astronauts and 2 Payload Specialists: Commander Dan Brandenstein, Pilot John Creighton, Mission Specialists Steve Nagel, John Fabian, and Shannon Lucid, and Payload Specialists Greg Jarvis and Charlie Walker. Scheduled for launch in either March or April of 1985, the orbiter that would've flown STS-51D was Discovery. There was some bad news, which was not about IUS problems this time: the STS-51E mission was cancelled and the crews changed missions; Brandenstein's crew moved to 51G and Bobko 's crew moved to the newly remanifested STS-51D flight. Charlie Walker chose to stay on this mission, because of the experiments he had to perform. So, an original member of STS-51E, Patrick Baudry, moved to STS-51G and Charlie Walker retained his spot as Payload Specialist 1.